Google Uses Augmented Reality To Put An Art Gallery In Your Pocket

If you love art then you know that there are many art galleries in the world that you definitely need to visit. Unfortunately due to time and financial constraints, not all of us can afford to travel the world and visit all the famous art galleries, but this is where Google wants to help by launching a new feature called the Pocket Gallery.

This new feature is part of the Google Arts & Culture app and basically what it does is that it uses augmented reality (AR) technology to allow you step inside of an art gallery. “Thanks to the Mauritshuis museum in the Netherlands and other cultural institutions guarding Vermeer’s legacy, they’re available in Pocket Gallery, a brand new feature on the Google Arts & Culture app. Pocket Gallery uses augmented reality, so you can pull out your phone and step into a virtual exhibition space to see all of his works, curated by experts from the Mauritshuis.”

Of course not every art gallery in the world will be available in the Pocket Gallery, at least not at the start, but hopefully over time more will be added. Some might wonder what the differences are between using AR versus looking at a photo online. The idea is that AR is more immersive and can make you feel like you’re actually there.

We imagine that virtual reality will probably do a better job of that, but since not all of us have VR headsets, AR does seem like a more convenient idea. For those who are interested in checking it out, the Pocket Gallery feature should already be live, so launch the Google Arts & Culture app to take it for a spin.